1. Field of the Invention
Generally, the present disclosure relates to the field of integrated circuits, and, more particularly, to field effect transistors and manufacturing techniques on the basis of stressed dielectric layers formed above the transistors and used for generating a different type of strain in channel regions of different transistor types.
2. Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits are typically comprised of a large number of circuit elements located on a given chip area according to a specified circuit layout, wherein, in complex circuits, the field effect transistor represents one predominant circuit element. Generally, a plurality of process technologies for advanced semiconductor devices are currently practiced, wherein, for complex circuitry based on field effect transistors, such as microprocessors, storage chips and the like, CMOS technology is currently one of the most promising approaches due to the superior characteristics in view of operating speed and/or power consumption and/or cost efficiency. During the fabrication of complex integrated circuits using CMOS technology, millions of complementary transistors, i.e., N-channel transistors and P-channel transistors, are formed on a substrate including a crystalline semiconductor layer. A field effect transistor, irrespective of whether an N-channel transistor or a P-channel transistor is considered, comprises so-called PN junctions that are formed by an interface of highly doped drain and source regions with an inversely or weakly doped channel region disposed between the drain region and the source region. The conductivity of the channel region, i.e., the drive current capability of the conductive channel, is controlled by a gate electrode formed above the channel region and separated therefrom by a thin insulating layer. The conductivity of the channel region, upon formation of a conductive channel due to the application of an appropriate control voltage to the gate electrode, depends on the dopant concentration, the mobility of the majority charge carriers and, for a given extension of the channel region in the transistor width direction, on the distance between the source and drain regions, which is also referred to as channel length. Hence, in combination with the capability of rapidly creating a conductive channel below the insulating layer upon application of the control voltage to the gate electrode, the conductivity of the channel region substantially determines the performance of the MOS transistors. Thus, the reduction of the channel length, and associated therewith the reduction of the channel resistivity, may be a dominant design criterion for accomplishing an increase in the operating speed of the integrated circuits.
The shrinkage of the transistor dimensions, however, involves a plurality of issues associated therewith that have to be addressed so as to not unduly offset the advantages obtained by steadily decreasing the channel length of MOS transistors. One issue associated with reduced gate lengths is the occurrence of so-called short channel effects, which may result in a reduced controllability of the channel conductivity. Short channel effects may be countered by certain design techniques, some of which, however, may be accompanied by a reduction of the channel conductivity, thereby partially offsetting the advantages obtained by the reduction of critical dimensions.
In view of this situation, it has been proposed to enhance device performance of the transistor elements not only by reducing the transistor dimensions but also by increasing the charge carrier mobility in the channel region for a given channel length, thereby increasing the drive current capability and thus transistor performance. For example, the lattice structure in the channel region may be modified, for instance, by creating tensile or compressive strain therein, which results in a modified mobility for electrons and holes, respectively. For example, creating tensile strain in the channel region of a silicon layer having a standard crystallographic configuration may increase the mobility of electrons, which in turn may directly translate into a corresponding increase of the conductivity of N-type transistors. On the other hand, compressive strain in the channel region may increase the mobility of holes, thereby providing the potential for enhancing the performance of P-type transistors.
One efficient approach in this respect is a technique that enables the creation of desired stress conditions within the channel region of different transistor elements by adjusting the stress characteristics of a dielectric layer stack that is formed above the basic transistor structure. The dielectric layer stack typically comprises one or more dielectric layers which may be located close to the transistor and which may also be used in controlling a respective etch process in order to form contact openings to the gate and drain and source terminals. Therefore, an effective control of mechanical stress in the channel regions, i.e., effective stress engineering, may be accomplished by individually adjusting the internal stress of these layers, which may also be referred to as contact etch stop layers, and by positioning a contact etch stop layer having an internal compressive stress above a P-channel transistor while positioning a contact etch stop layer having an internal tensile strain above an N-channel transistor, thereby creating compressive and tensile strain, respectively, in the respective channel regions.
Typically, the contact etch stop layer is formed by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) processes above the transistor, i.e., above the gate structure and the drain and source regions, wherein, for instance, silicon nitride may be used due to its high etch selectivity with respect to silicon dioxide, which is a well-established interlayer dielectric material. Furthermore, PECVD silicon nitride may be deposited with a high intrinsic stress, for example, up to 2 GigaPascal (GPa) or significantly higher of compressive stress and up to 1 GPa and significantly higher of tensile stress, wherein the type and the magnitude of the intrinsic stress may be efficiently adjusted by selecting appropriate deposition parameters. For example, ion bombardment, deposition pressure, substrate temperature, gas flow rates and the like represent respective parameters that may be used for obtaining the desired intrinsic stress.
During the formation of the two types of stressed layers, conventional techniques may suffer from reduced efficiency when device dimensions are increasingly scaled by using the 45 nm technology and even further advanced approaches, due to the limited conformal deposition capabilities of the deposition processes involved, which may result in respective process non-uniformities during subsequent process steps for patterning the stressed layer and forming contact openings, as will be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1a-1e. 
FIG. 1a schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of a semiconductor device 100 in a certain manufacturing stage for forming stress-inducing layers above a first device area 120A and a second device area 120B. The first and second device areas 120A, 120B, which typically represent respective transistor elements, may be formed above a substrate 101 comprising a semiconductor layer 102, such as a silicon-based layer, which may be separated from the substrate 101 by an appropriate buried insulating layer if a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) configuration is considered. In the example shown, the first and second device areas 120A, 120B may comprise a plurality of transistor elements with a lateral distance according to the design rules of the technology under consideration. The transistors in the first and second device areas 120A, 120B may comprise a gate electrode 121 formed on a respective gate insulation layer 123, which separates the gate electrode 121 from a corresponding channel region 124, which is laterally located between respective drain/source regions 125. Furthermore, a sidewall spacer structure 122 may be formed on sidewalls of the gate electrode 121. Typically, metal silicide regions (not shown) may be provided in the drain and source regions 125 and the gate electrodes 121 in order to enhance the conductivity of these areas. The semiconductor device 100 may represent an advanced device, in which critical dimensions, such as the gate length, i.e., in FIG. 1a, the horizontal extension of the gate electrodes 121, may be approximately 50 nm or less. Consequently, a distance between respective transistor elements, i.e., the lateral distance between neighboring sidewall spacer structures 122 of closely spaced transistor elements, as shown in the device region 120B, may be approximately 100 nm or even less.
It should be appreciated that the first and second device regions 120A, 120B may be separated by an appropriate isolation structure (not shown) if required. Furthermore, in the manufacturing stage shown in FIG. 1a, a silicon nitride layer 130, comprising, for instance, a high intrinsic tensile stress, is formed above the first and second device areas 120A, 120B followed by an etch indicator layer 131 comprised of silicon dioxide. It should be appreciated that, if required, an etch stop layer, such as a silicon dioxide layer of appropriate thickness and density, may be provided between the silicon nitride layer 130 and the respective transistor elements in the first and second device areas 120A, 120B. The etch indicator layer 131 is typically provided with a thickness that is sufficient to stop an etch process in a later stage when patterning the layer 130, or to provide a pronounced endpoint detection signal. That is, a silicon nitride etch chemistry reacting with silicon dioxide results in a specific plasma ambient, which can be detected by standard detection techniques. Usually, a thickness of the etch indicator layer 131 is selected such that sufficient etch control across the substrate is achieved. In some approaches, the etch indicator layer 131 may act as a hard mask during the patterning of the silicon nitride layer 130.
As is evident from FIG. 1a, due to the reduced spacing between neighboring transistor elements, the silicon nitride layer 130 may have to be deposited with a moderately low thickness to take into consideration the gap fill capabilities of the deposition process, since when the spacing between the transistor elements may be on the order of two times a layer thickness of the silicon nitride layer 130, the limited conformal fill behavior may result in corresponding defects, such as voids.
Furthermore, in this manufacturing stage, the semiconductor device 100 may comprise a resist mask 103 exposing the first device area 120A while covering the second device region 120B. In this case, it may be assumed that the intrinsic stress of the silicon nitride layer 130 may be appropriately selected to enhance the transistor performance in the second device area 120B.
A typical process flow for forming the semiconductor device 100 as shown in FIG. 1a may comprise the following processes. The gate electrodes 121 and the gate insulation layers 123 may be formed and patterned on the basis of well-established process techniques including advanced photolithography, deposition, oxidation and etch techniques. Thereafter, the drain and source regions 125 may be formed in combination with the sidewall spacer structures 122 on the basis of well-established deposition, anisotropic etch processes and implantation sequences in order to establish the desired vertical and lateral dopant profile. Thereafter, respective silicide regions may be formed, if required, on the basis of well-established techniques. Next, if required, a corresponding silicon dioxide etch stop layer may be formed followed by the deposition of the silicon nitride layer 130. During the deposition of the silicon nitride material, respective process parameters, such as composition of carrier gases and reactive gases, substrate temperature, deposition pressure and in particular ion bombardment during the deposition, may significantly influence the finally obtained intrinsic stress of the material as deposited with respect to the underlying materials. Thus, by selecting appropriate parameter values, a high degree of intrinsic stress, such as up to 2 GigaPascal (GPa) and even more of compressive stress or up to 1 GPa or even significantly higher of tensile stress, may be created to enhance the performance of the transistor in the second device area 120B. Due to the less pronounced conformality of the silicon nitride deposition process above a certain layer thickness and for increased aspect ratios, as may occur in highly scaled devices caused by the reduced distance between the neighboring transistor elements 120B at moderately dimensioned gate heights in densely packed device areas, as shown, the thickness of the silicon nitride material is selected to avoid irregularities, such as voids. Thus, the deposition process for the silicon dioxide layer 131 may encounter an even more pronounced surface topography, thereby also requiring enhanced gap fill capabilities while avoiding increased oxide thickness and the creation of a void.
After the deposition of the silicon dioxide layer 131, the resist mask 103 may be formed on the basis of well-established photolithography techniques. Next, an appropriately designed etch process may be performed in order to remove a portion of the layers 130 and 131 from the device area 120A. During the corresponding etch process, the silicon dioxide material of the layer 131 may be removed first followed by a selective etch process for removing the material of the silicon nitride layer 130, wherein the corresponding etch process may be controlled on the basis of an etch stop layer, if required.
FIG. 1b schematically illustrates the semiconductor device 100 at a further advanced manufacturing stage. As shown, a second dielectric layer 140 may be formed above the first and second device areas 120A, 120B, wherein a void 132 may be present in the second device area 120B due to the limited gap filling capability of the deposition process for forming a highly stressed silicon nitride material and the pronounced surface topography previously created during the deposition of the layers 130, 131. Although the void 132 may be advantageous in view of reducing the parasitic capacitance between the closely spaced transistors in the region 120B, the probability of increasing significant yield losses is increased during the further processing due to an increase of leakage currents, as will be explained later on.
Furthermore, at the manufacturing stage shown in FIG. 1b, a corresponding resist mask 104 is provided to protect the dielectric layer 140 during a corresponding etch process 105 for removing the exposed portion of the layer 140 in the second device region 120B.
With respect to the formation of the second dielectric layer 140, substantially the same criteria apply as previously explained with respect to the layer 130. Hence, during the deposition of the layer 140, respective process parameters may be adjusted in an appropriate manner so that a desired high intrinsic stress may be obtained. In sophisticated applications, i.e., in semiconductor devices of feature sizes of approximately 50 nm and less, the gap fill capabilities of the deposition process for forming the layer 140 may also play an important role for the etch process 105, since, in combination with the surface topography generated during the deposition of the layers 130 and 131, a substantially complete removal of the exposed portion of the layer 140 may depend on the deposition capabilities of the subsequent deposition for a given device geometry. Due to the creation of the void 132, the thickness of the layer 140 may be increased in the vicinity of the void, which may result in a non-sufficient removal of the material of the layer 140 during the process 105. Thus, the void 132 may be maintained after the process 105, thereby further contributing to increased yield loss during the further processing due to contact failures.
FIG. 1c schematically illustrates the device 100 at a further advanced manufacturing stage, wherein a corresponding interlayer dielectric material 150, for instance comprised of silicon dioxide, may be formed above the first and second dielectric layers 130, 140. The dielectric material 150 may be formed on the basis of well-established techniques, such as sub-atmospheric deposition processes on the basis of TEOS, plasma assisted chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and the like, which may be followed by respective planarization processes, if required. Thereafter, respective contact openings 151 may be formed, which may, in some cases, for instance in dense RAM regions, connect to the device layer at areas located between respective closely spaced transistors. During the deposition of the material 150, the pronounced topography may also result in the creation of voids between the closely spaced transistors 120B, wherein the previously formed void 132 may contribute to respective deposition irregularities. Thus, the corresponding void 132 may be present in the material and may also affect the subsequent fabrication process, since the void 132 may be partially filled with a contact metal to be filled in the contact openings, thereby resulting in increased leakage or even total contact failures.
FIG. 1d schematically illustrates a top view of a portion of the semiconductor device 100 wherein it may be assumed that the interlayer dielectric material 150 may be transparent so that the corresponding gate electrodes 121 or transistors in the device region 120 are visible. Moreover, contact openings 151A, 151B may be formed in the interlayer dielectric material 150 and may extend to corresponding contact regions (not shown) of the semiconductor material of the device region 120. Furthermore, the void 132 indicated by the dashed lines may extend between the adjacent gate electrodes 121 along a width direction, as indicated by W. Thus, the void 132 may extend between the contact openings 151A, 151B and may thus result in increased leakage currents upon filling the contact openings 151A, 151B with a metal-containing material due to metal migration along the void 132.
FIG. 1e schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of the semiconductor device 100 along the section Ie of FIG. 1d. As illustrated, contact elements 152 may be formed on the basis of the contact openings 151A, 151B wherein any appropriate metal, such as tungsten, copper, aluminum and the like, possibly in combination with an appropriate barrier material, may be filled into the openings 151A, 151B in accordance with well-established process techniques. During the deposition of the corresponding metal-containing material, which may frequently be performed on the basis of deposition techniques, such as CVD and the like, metal may also be deposited and may migrate within the void 132, thereby establishing a conductive path from the contact elements 152 into the interlayer dielectric material, which may thus result in increased leakage currents and reduced dielectric breakdown strength of the interlayer dielectric material 150. Furthermore, for highly scaled devices, the diffusion or migration of the metal material 152 along the void 132 may even result in a short circuit between the adjacent contact elements 152, thereby contributing to significant yield loss, since a corresponding contact failure may result in a total loss of the entire device 100.
As a consequence, upon further device scaling, the limitations of deposition and patterning regimes for dielectric materials of high internal stress levels may require a significant reduction of the layer thickness of the stress-inducing material layers, for instance the layer 130, in order to comply with the pronounced surface topography encountered in advanced device geometries. However, in this case, the resulting strain induced by the stressed dielectric materials may also be significantly reduced, thereby compromising overall transistor performance. Hence, in many conventional strategies, great efforts are being made in an attempt to reduce the probability of creating voids during the deposition of the interlayer dielectric material, thereby contributing to the overall process complexity and/or reducing the finally achieved transistor performance. On the other hand, maintaining the voids between closely spaced transistor elements, which may be advantageous in view of reducing the parasitic capacitance and also in view of enabling the deposition of an increased amount of stress-inducing material, it may be less than desirable on the basis of conventional process strategies due to the high risk of creating contact failures.
The present disclosure is directed to various methods and devices that may avoid, or at least reduce, the effects of one or more of the problems identified above.